Question of the Day

Whose side of the story do you believe?

Karl H.B. Berend, a statistician for the Air Force and a textbook example of the American dream, died Feb. 18 at Mount Vernon Hospital from complications with an ulcer. He was 87.

Mr. Berend was born in Berlin. After the death of his father when he was 4, Karl was placed in an orphanage where he remained until he was 18. It was only then that he learned that his father was a naturalized U.S. citizen and thus so was he.

Determined to come to the U.S., he found work on a ship and entered the country in 1938.

After several years working factory jobs and learning English, Mr. Berend served in the Army from 1942 to 1946.

In 1943, he married Natalie Coster Berend.

Mr. Berend received a degree in business management at the University of Baltimore in 1949, after which he worked as a statistician for the Air Force until he retired in 1979. He last worked at Andrews Air Force Base as a cost analyst.

Mr. Berend lived in the Mount Vernon area of Alexandria for 53 years. He was a charter member of the Washington Farm United Methodist Church.

Mr. Berend was known by his family and friends as an outspoken advocate of world peace.

After his retirement, he was an active member of many international organizations, including the American Goethe Society, the World Affairs Council and the German American National Congress, where he served as president for the D.C. chapter in the early 1990s.

He was most proud of garnering support for the recognition of German American Day and for his efforts toward the construction of the German-American Friendship Garden in the District.

Mr. Berend is preceded in death by his wife. He is survived by three daughters, Linda Berend, Janet Calvin and Barbara Berend, all of Northern Virginia; one granddaughter and two great-grandchildren.